I have only been riding about one month and I live in an area that requires some significant climbing. Currently I am experiencing difficulty on the hills as my legs burn out very quickly. I am currently riding bike with the very small gears. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

My best advice is to keep at it, and I say that without at all trying to sound like a smart ass.

It takes grinding hard work to get better at climbing. My motivation this summer was to take the same routes and remember what gear I was in on certain hills. Every few weeks, try the same hill in a bigger gear and don't wimp out in the middle of the hill. You've got to just pick a pace and gear and stick to it, push through the pain.

When I look back at the gears I was using on certain hills, they're downright easy now. Tenacity is all it takes, and never giving in midway up the hill.

Personally, I think these small battles are so damn rewarding. At least in spirit, I can understand what it's like for bike racers, pushing their bodies to the limit up certain hills. On some level, I can relate to what they are experiencing, albeit at a much lower strength and fitness level.

I recently moved to an area with some good hills; downhill leaving and uphill getting back home. It was discouraging at first, but like he says, just keep at it and you'll see an improvement eventually. I was pleasantly surprised by my ride today, I charged and it felt great.

Same here.

Check out this thread....

https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycling/65829-i-feel-like-such-whimp.html

Since you have only been riding one month... you have nothing to do but improve!!! That is the good news... the bad news is that there is some discomfort associated with that improvement.

Greenstork has some good advice. However, I would differ with him slightly on some of the details.

First, establish that you can climb the hill in your lowest gear. This would go along with establishing a baseline of LSD (Long, Slow Distance) conditioning. After you have established your base, then work toward climbing in harder gears, both seated and standing in a hill-repeat (interval) type of training. I differ with Greenstork in that I think if you are mid-hill and find that you are over geared and bogging down, it is OK to down gear or turn around and retry the hill in a lower gear. When doing hill repeats I feel it is more important to do as many climbs as you can rather than blow yourself up by going to hard.

After a month of once-a-week hill work, you will find that it all gets easier and that you are climbing faster in a higher gear. Also, just riding a lot and losing weight (assuming you have some to lose) will help.

Good luck and keep on working at it!

Here's a few things that worked for me:

As others have said, just keep working at it. It will take time, but you will improve.

If you have low gears, don't be afraid to use them. Just don't go so low that your cadence is greater than 100.

At this stage don't worry about setting any speed goals for yourself. Set your goal to make it to the top of the hill without stopping. Go as slow as it takes to make this happen.

Last, and the most important, a good mental attitude is critical. If you think that a hill is impossible to climb, you will never make it to the top.

Just wondering, what is considered a steep climb and what is a moderate?

Anyway, for getting better at climbing, I would try a regime where I'd go all out at a hill and then take a rest day to recover and keep doing that. This way you can increase your power but not damage muscles.

Back when I trained to race, there would be days where I just didn't feel like riding. So I'd find a steep hill and just ride it over and over and over. Not a lot of miles but good training.

what is considerd a long steep hill or mnt in my case i live in chattanooa TN and we have lots of mnts. i am also a newbe i have climbed 2 mtns .so far one was a 4mile 6% and the other was a 10% for the first mile then it drops to about a 6% for 2 more miles .

When you first start riding hills it is important to conserve your legs until you hit the big hills. If you have spent a lot of leg before you hit the hill then your leggs are already fatigued. Also your seat position could be incorrect and not allowing you maximum power to the hill climb. Check with a local bike dealer to be fitted for your bike. If that doesn't work it could be your fat ASS!!!!!!

Start with low gear, sit and spin. I prefer to spin 90-110 on hills staying seated with short (10-15) out of the saddle efforts on long hills every 5 min or so. I got my Triathelet boss to work on hill climbs like this an he finish his fist ironman (Wisconsin) on a bad ankle (twisted) with a great swim and bike the marathon he walked. If he can climb hills now you will be to.

Galen52657 has my vote here; do as he said and you can't go wrong. Get as strong as you can with the least amount of fat. Just keep hammering through the burn, scream out in pain if it helps, to get really strong it hurts really bad. But you will be ok later. Later work on climbing in the biggest gear you can handle, do hill sprints, that's where it's at. Then when your on a club ride you will be happy to see a hill comming up; the bigger the better, just for the chance to show off! It's so cool to sit at the top, look back and watch the rest of 'em do the climb; even if they hate ya for it.

Another good point. I do the same thing , climb as fast as possible, coast down slow to recover, over and over till I feel I might vomit if I don't stop; then I know I've had enough and head for home.

Re: your alias. Are you a person who has had knee problems, and so have taken up cycling? If so, make sure you have whatever gear you need to keep those cranks doing 85 RPM or better. Grinding at 40 RPM isn't going to help your knees any.

Also, climbing seated uses substantially less energy than standing.